GWP Annual Report 2005

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G W P in action

The Global Water Partnership (GWP), established in 1996, is an international network open to all organizations involved in water resources management – government institutions, agencies of the United Nations, bilateral and multilateral development banks, professional associations, research institutions, non-governmental organizations, community groups and the private sector. The GWP mission is to support countries in the sustainable management of their water resources.

Through its network, the GWP fosters integrated water resources management (IWRM). IWRM aims to ensure the coordinated development and management of water, land, and related resources in order to maximize economic and social welfare – without compromising the sustainability of vital environmental systems. The GWP provides a platform for multistakeholder dialogue at global, regional, national and local levels to promote integrated approaches towards more sustainable water resources development, management and use.

The GWP network works in 14 regions: Southern Africa, Eastern Africa, Central Africa, West Africa, the Mediterranean, Central and Eastern Europe, Caribbean, Central America, South America, Central Asia and the Caucasus, South Asia, Southeast Asia, China and Australia.

The GWP Secretariat is located in Stockholm, Sweden.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The GWP gratefully acknowledges the partners who kindly contributed to the texts and interviews in the creation of this report, GWP in Action 2005. It is also grateful for the financial contributions to the Partnership (core and programmatic funds) made by the governments of Canada, Denmark, France, Finland, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States of America, and the European Union.

ISSN: - Published 2006 by the Global Water Partnership, GWP. Reproduction of the text of this publication is authorized without prior permission from the copyright holder.

Texts by Green Ink Ltd. UK. Graphic design by Greenwood Communications AB. Production by Svensk Information.

Printed by Elanders.

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Contents Chair report

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Overview

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Voices at the grassroots level

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Making headway in national IWRM plans

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Building capacity for better water management

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Water is priceless

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Contacts

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Chair report W

ithout water, life is not possible.To pre- Peipsi on the Russian/Estonian border and in the serve life, the world needs to manage Kafue river basin in Zambia, and more reliable its water better.The Global Water domestic water services in Estonia, Singapore, Partnership is a global network designed to help mega-cities such as Manila and for small commuthe world – those working within nities in Cape Town. countries and regions – to change We must understand that making water resource use, and promote real change means creating a buildbetter resource development and ing block for the next needed management. change, and that laying each down The management of water in a way that is both lasting and real resources is in fact, a subtle process. takes time – it took some three Water management reform is a decades to achieve the European slow process – and it is simply not Water Framework Directive, a dozen possible to transpose a water manyears to put the Tennessee Valley agement template from one situaagreement together, and more than tion to another. Although the water that to get agreement on the priorities in each country and Murray-Darling river basin restoraMargaret Catley-Carlson tion. Lots of good and important region differ all have, to some Chair extent, the same water managesmall changes can be made rapidly; ment problems. People and nations overhaul of the entire water can learn from each other. Finding better and resource management system is unlikely to be different processes and techniques is the key to quick. But we want both. finding solutions to problems.This is where the In this report, GWP in Action 2005, some of GWP network of water partnerships comes to the steps towards change being taken by various the fore – they bring people from all sectors people across the GWP network are illustrated – together to focus on real problems, discuss the from the impromptu needs-based area water issues and exchange knowledge and the tools to partnerships in South Asia that are bringing peohelp resolve them. ple together to help resolve issues in their comSolutions can be found using an IWRM munities, to the assistance given to governments approach: more integration among the user secthat are putting their national IWRM plans tors, more value ascribed to the resource, more together, the capacity building programmes supfinancially sustainable systems, more conscious porting this and other initiatives around the attention being given to management – in terms world, and the efforts to keep the spotlight on of laws, rules, and in better consultation consultfinancing water infrastructure. ing with those affected. Looking for places where Although not all aspects of what these people “IWRM has been implemented” or “IWRM is are doing can be integrated in all issues, not all being practiced” is illusory. Instead, we can find persons can be consulted, not all principles can many places where water resource management be observed in all cases, not all data can be availhas been improved.We can see improvement of able to all persons, are we making progress? water quality in a lake or river – the Danube Absolutely! And as you will see in this report, river basin, Laguna de Bay in Philippines, or parcels of progress towards improved water manreduced conflict over water resources as in Lake agement can be seen everywhere.

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Overview S

upporting dialogue and knowledge process and fitting the programme into complex exchange for better water management political and national structures requires diploamong people working in different sectors macy and good networking. Putting ‘participaremains at the very heart of the Global Water tion’ into practice is proving to be a time conPartnership. suming business. Each national proThe GWP partnerships were gramme has developed its own started by a multidisciplinary team course of action according to local of water professionals from the circumstances but, as you will read respective regions – handpicked in the second and third chapters of for their individual capacity. this report, significant progress is Transformation into full regional being made. water partnerships – larger, broad Following up the report, Financing Water for All, presented at the 3rd based cross-sectoral and multiWorld Water Forum in Kyoto in stakeholder groups of organizaMarch 2003, the network of partners tions, governed by elected repreat country level in Southeast Asia sentatives – is an important shift have been engaged in multisector towards fully representative and Emilio Gabbrielli dialogues on water and finance.With effective partnerships.This transExecutive Secretary a view to attract more investment formation is well underway in and ensure its shrewd use, the diaCentral America and South logues focused on promoting better understandAmerica. As part of this process, many of the South and Central American countries are estab- ing of integrated approaches for more sustainable water management among financiers and increaslishing GWP water partnerships at the national ing awareness of financial issues – particularly level. those related to agricultural water use – among The establishment of area water partnerships water professionals and policy makers. continues to expand. Due to their weak links to Many other steps towards better water the GWP we do not know as much as we resources management have been made around would like to about them and their activities. the network, falling beyond the scope of this Indeed, presently GWP is not capable of giving particular report. Suffice to say, the GWP is these local partnerships the support that they probably expect. But they are doing good things making good progress and throughout the coming year it is important for us to ensure continuas you will read in the first chapter of this ity of our actions and interventions. Responses report.

The programmes supporting national efforts to to our work show that GWP has created much good will so it is important for us to keep develdevelop IWRM strategies and plans dominate oping suitable and appropriately funded promuch of the work being done in the regional grammes that support countries in the impleand country water partnerships, especially those mentation phase of their IWRM strategies and in Africa. Involving sixteen countries in Africa plans. In doing so, we need to make certain that and El Salvador in Central America and the work we do actually provides real tools that Indonesia in Southeast Asia, much has been help countries meet their Millennium learnt about the process in the different counDevelopment Goals and beyond. tries.The GWP has a facilitating role in the

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Voices at the grassroots level In the “GWP in Action 2002� an article on the formation of area water partnerships was published. The results of two recent surveys show how they are faring.

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n Madhya Pradesh in India, Babasaheb Deshmukh is trying to overcome the problem of growing his cotton crop with partly saline irrigation. Deshmukh is also experimenting with fish culture in ponds but admits that there are management issues due to the salinity.To help, he talks a lot with an informal network other progressive farmers, who regularly exchange information about the soil conditions and crops.

Deshmukh is a close ally of the Purna River Basin area water partnership. In consultation with the partnership, many plans were drawn up to fight saline conditions and improve the health and livelihoods of people living here. One programme looked at pumping out groundwater; another at constructing recharge wells; yet another at introducing better agriculture technology. Due to their dogged efforts, the state government has taken steps to improve the lives The GWP network. The area water parternerships in South Asia (marked in green) bring people together at the local level.

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INFLUENCING POLICY IN SRI LANKA The Maha Oya (river) area water partnership, by highlighting the rapid deterioration of the lower reaches of the river, which was being extensively mined for sand, contributed to the formulation of a national policy for sand that is used in the construction industry. By bringing the issue to the notice of the state, and providing a forum for other active lobbyists, especially environmental groups, the partnership influenced the ban on mechanized sand mining in the river. In 2004, in recognition of the important role they were playing in the field, the Chairman of Maha Oya was included in a Ministerial Task Force to mitigate pollution in the Maha Oya and Kelani River, another important river basin.

Photo: Getty Images

In Sri Lanka lobbyists at the local level have succeeded in catching the attention of government.

Photo: Phoenix

Area water partnerships can highlight issues overlooked by more formal institutions.

of people in the area – for example, providing piped water to parts of the core saline area.The partnership has also been able to tap into state funds for a number of innovative pilot projects and has influenced state policy towards water harvesting structures and cropping patterns.

IN THE BEGINNING Area water partnerships emerged as an attempt to take integrated approaches to water resources management to a more practical level – to the grassroots. Around 2001, while the concept of integrated water resources management (IWRM) had gained acceptance among different organizations and fora, integration was still a long way from becoming a reality on the ground.The South Asia region of GWP began to look for ways of addressing local water issues and disputesolving through a unique type of multi-stakeholder forum at the local level, thus the area water partnerships were born. Similar processes underway in Bulgaria resulted in the formation of area partnerships called “Water Clubs”.

In South Asia, these partnerships provide a ‘platform’ for interaction among various groups who have an interest in the particular water resource in question.They are a unique institutional form that brings together user groups and government authorities, including regulators.

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Such stakeholders include government, non-government and community-based organizations, civil society, private sector (factories, large farms), various professionals including media and lawyers, human rights and environmental activists, local residents, farmers and so on. By fostering better co-operation and communication among these people it was broadly assumed that some form of integrated action could be achieved. It was hoped that this holistic approach would provide a more rounded view of resource management and highlight ‘real’ issues that plague the river-based people, which may not have caught the attention of administrators and law makers before.

Most area water partnerships are not legal entities or formally registered as institutions in their area of operation. Instead, they are informal associations of interested persons who help create platforms where existing institutions and groups can discuss and debate specific water issues and come up with solutions. Generally they are ‘hosted’ by one of the stakeholders.

One of the most striking aspects is the level of ‘community’ or ‘local’ participation in an area water partnership. In Nepal the area water partnerships have survived through some tough conditions, including the Maoist battle with the government; and some of the partnerships’

members have to trek by foot for three days to attend meetings – all showing that commitment to the ‘spirit of the partnership’ is high.

In 2001, GWP South Asia set out criteria for the establishment of area water partnerships. ● There has to be a perennial river in the area. ● Minimum catchment area of the basin 1000 km2. ● The area should be experiencing some kind of water stress. ● Demonstrable grassroots level interest in IWRM.

Water partnerships in Nepal have achieved broad crosssectoral representation.

Photo: Phoenix

The area water partnerships were established by the respective country water partnerships in India, Bangladesh and Pakistan.They were extremely enthusiastic about setting up locallevel water partnerships and between them have set up over 33 during the past five years. Some are ephemeral, coming together solely to solve a specific problem.Today there are 37 functioning partnerships in five countries. India has the largest number with 14; Bangladesh 8; Pakistan 7; Sri Lanka 5 and Nepal 3. Many function with little funding but some have shown great innovation and creativity in securing sufficient funds from local authorities, organizations or through community contributions for conducting various programmes of their own.

BRINGING STAKEHOLDERS TOGETHER The main purpose and function of area water partnerships is to address a number of key water issues in their given locality. Earlier scattered and sectoral efforts can be integrated through the partnership, though in certain countries it has been difficult to get the fullest participation. At the start in Pakistan, government institutions looked at the partnership with mistrust and antipathy. Sometimes adversarial stakeholders like polluting industries and miners were reluctant to join the forum. Some civil society groups felt marginalized in some Indian partnerships due to over representation by government and state officials.

The broad cross sectoral representation in these partnership is exemplified in the Kankai Mai partnership in Nepal where its 37 members include central government agencies, local government bodies, NGOs active in the river basin, irrigation users associations, drinking water users associations, micro-hydro groups, private entrepreneurs, politicians and journalists.

In some cases these partnerships have proved to be a good means of linking government programmes with local level IWRM activities. For example, in Bangladesh the partnerships have the potential to link their activities with the 1999 National Water Policy and the 2004 National

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and water networks in every area water partnership locality to compliment its activities. Already, many encourage women’s groups among their partner stakeholders. In Bangladesh special meetings were held in the Surama Basin for Women and Water Network participants. As expected, these meetings drew many interested women groups.

FOSTERING A GENDER SENSITIVE APPROACH Discriminatory practices prevent females in many South Asian countries from participating fully in community management activities.

Although women provide labour on the farms and take care of almost all domestic chores, they are often deprived of their legal and social rights and are barred from decision-making positions – especially at the local level.

In the Nara Canal partnership in Pakistan, this issue has been directly addressed by establishing a Women’s Welfare Association alongside the partnership. Following this move, attitudes towards female participation underwent positive changes, though the partnership feels that there is much more work to be done to encourage more social equity among the men and women.

In Pakistan, the country water partnership is promoting the establishment of special women

TOWARD POVERTY ALLEVIATION In general, area partnerships look at water management as a possible entry point to a number of other issues – livelihood improvement being one. A case in point is in Purna, India (see opening paragraphs of this article) where the emphasis is placed on tackling salinity issues in the river basin to improve the livelihood and incomes of local people.

In Pakistan, together with local government organizations, the Nara Canal partnership set up a ‘model village’ that demonstrates the wise use of scarce water resources for livelihood improvement through better technology options and innovative schemes.The women in the village are very proactive in this programme.

In many countries the introduction of rooftop rainwater harvesting structures have led to improved domestic water security and the ability

HIGHLIGHTING LOCAL ISSUES Area water partnerships provide fresh insights to local issues. In some cases they highlight problems and the potential that may be overlooked by planners and administrators. In Pakistan for example, the Bolan partnership began restoring a centuries-old underground irrigation system called ‘karez’ in the water-stressed area of Quetta, drawing government attention to the need to preserve these traditional structures.

On the Gorai and Surama rivers in Bangladesh, area water partnerships highlighted issues relating to sharing water in transboundary rivers and its effects on downstream ecology and livelihood of riverine communities during the dry periods. And in Sri Lanka, management issues in the upper watershed of the Maha Oya have been raised, especially the adverse impacts from some mini hydropower plants.

A special feature of these partnerships is, that by actively engaging with different sections of the riparian community, they can ‘spring surprise issues’ that do not normally surface in a conventional topdown water management process.

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Photo: MetaMeta

Water Management Plan that lean heavily towards integrated approaches to water management. In Nepal, the area partnerships promote IWRM at grassroots level activities as spelt out in their National Water Resources Strategy. In Pakistan they have demonstrated the use of rainwater harvesting structures that could be incorporated in district administration plans.

to withstand short periods of drought.

The partnerships also tackle health and sanitation matters.The Nara Canal partnership trained women as midwives to take care of routine health matters in the area, the lack of which had often caused great hardship to families. In Sri Lanka much emphasis is given to the sanitation facilities of riverside people, who traditionally disposed of their waste into the river and then used the same water for drinking. By drawing attention to the need to control upstream pollution, and through activities like providing sanitation and composting bins for riverside communities, the partnership made a positive impact on water quality.

STRENGTHENING CAPACITIES Area water partnerships engage in training, awareness raising and capacity building at various levels.Take the example of the Surama Basin partnership in Bangladesh.The partnership is not only hosted by the Shahjalal University of Science and Technology but the host now conducts an academic course in IWRM in the Department of Environment and Civil Engineering.

Small-scale capacity building programmes are common in all these partnerships.The technical information on integrated approaches for more sustainable water resources management that is published by GWP is translated to local languages for these training sessions.Women and water networks and their counterpart organizations engage in building women’s capacity to tackle water management issues and to change their viewpoint of sectoral management of water. In Nepal, local planners were given training to reduce their dependence upon external technical support.

In India, there has been a strong focus on educating school children and teachers.The Upper Godavari partnership has trained around 1500 secondary school teachers and through them, reached a student population of over 25,000.

NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT The promotion of local action on environment conservation is also common in the partnerships work. In Sri Lanka, the Maha Oya partnership was able to influence government agencies to act upon rampant pollution and solid waste dumping along the river banks. In Nepal, there is much emphasis in the partnerships on natural resource management for positive impacts upon livelihoods of river communities although no tangible projects have been mooted so far.

THE ADDED VALUE OF THE AREA WATER PARTNERSHIPS ● There is significant scope for partnerships to promote holistic approaches and action for more sustainable water resource management at the local level. ● Area partnerships are a good means to link government programmes with local level IWRM activities. ● In some countries the partnerships can serve as a first step to establishing river basin organizations or aquifer associations. ● The partnerships have the capacity to upscale local actions and experiences. ● Area water partnerships can act as the ‘voice at grassroots level’ to take local issues to national platforms.

HERE TO STAY Although area water partnerships suffer several ailments – from a lack of funding, information and knowledge, to ill defined roles and weak communication – most have proved that they have a vital role in bringing people together to resolve their local water problems, often becoming the “voice from the grassroots” by raising issues at higher levels.

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Photo: Phoenix

Making headway on national IWRM plans The World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD), held in Johannesburg in 2002, set the scene for far-reaching changes in water management by calling for countries to create national integrated water resources management (IWRM) and water efficiency plans by 2005. How are these plans taking shape?

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n the three years since the Summit, global commitment to building national IWRM strategies and plans has risen, accompanied by stronger demand – especially from African countries – for the services of the GWP which, through its regional and country water partnerships, is ideally placed to support water planning.

Many governments have requested its support and donors have channelled funds through the GWP. GWP has responded to this demand by establishing a Programme Team with three full-time project administrators and one programme officer.The team works closely with donors, GWP network officers and the country and regional partnerships to oversee the allocation of funds and provide advice on how to set the planning processes in motion.

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The national IWRM planning processes that GWP is facilitating are well underway and the content in these plans is being compiled. Critically, each is becoming grounded in reality, taking into account the priority issues in each country including for example, the development of new and maintenance of existing infrastructure.

Preparing an IWRM and water efficiency plan can have ripple effects, fostering broader economic and social change at national level.The 2002 Summit water target has prompted the establishment of several new country water partnerships, for example in Kenya and Cameroon.

GETTING STARTED IN KENYA One of the first tasks of the Kenya Water Partnership, formed in 2003, was to assist the

government in formulating a national IWRM and water efficiency plan. Balancing the differing interests of the various ministries and other stakeholders proved quite a challenge. A key issue was establishing GWP’s role as a facilitator of the process as it was initially perceived as an implementing or donor agency, or form of competition. Good communication and networking helped resolve these questions and clarify that the planning process belonged to the government and stakeholders with GWP facilitating the process.

To ensure the widest possible participation in the planning process, the partnership brought together over one hundred stakeholder representatives.These included ministries and departments with water-related responsibilities, regional development authorities, universities, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), the private sector, the media, communities and self-help groups from across the country.Working groups are now examining aspects of Kenya’s water resource development and management arrangements and making recommendations to be included in the draft IWRM plan. An inter-ministerial secretariat has been set up to coordinate and communicate progress on water sector reform and establish benchmarks for monitoring and evaluating the changes.

COPING WITH CHANGE IN INDONESIA The Indonesia Water Partnership was established in March 2003. In addition to serving as a channel for donor support, it is moving the Indonesian planning process forward by giving advice at appropriate levels of government, providing guiding documents and coordinating the exchange of knowledge and experience. “The principle of GWP facilitation through the national water partnership was welcomed by the government as being complementary to its own efforts,” says Djoko Sasongko, the project manager in Indonesia. “But in practice, getting agreement on the IWRM plan has been complicated by frequent changes in government personnel and new budgeting systems.”

Since various stakeholder groups and decision makers tend to interpret “IWRM” differently, the Indonesia Water Partnership decided to stage a national workshop to clarify the concept.

Entitled Partnership for Water Conservation, the March 2005 event brought together members of the partnership, the project management team, the coordinating committee – mainly government officers – and staff of the host institution for the Indonesia partnership, Binatama Wirawredha Konsultan. Participants outlined their respective responsibilities and began building a common understanding of each other’s

Photo: Phoenix

Getting agreement on an IWRM plan can be complicated by changes in government personnel.

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IWRM PLANNING: A SUMMARY OF LESSONS LEARNED SO FAR

roles. Notably, the workshop led to a Presidential Declaration and multi-stakeholder statement on IWRM.These official statements demonstrate a commitment to stakeholder participation in developing integrated approaches towards Indonesia’s water resources development and management, which will be expressed through activities such as reforestation, flood control and water quality improvement.

NEW PARTNERSHIPS AND COLLABORATION Because the target set by the 2002 Summit demands collaboration among diverse water users and sectors, it is helping to promote GWP activities and build new water partnerships.

Central Africa is a good example. In June 2004, a GWP Central Africa Technical Advisory Committee was established, drawing members from Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, Democratic Republic (DR) of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and São Tomé and Principe. Now, Cameroon has established a water partnership at the national level.

The region suffers from political instability and in some countries water is not seen as an urgent problem. As a result, water resources management lies low on the political agenda. Nonetheless, there is growing awareness of the need to improve water governance and enhance water availability for the well being of the population.

The GWP’s effort to raise awareness of the need for holistic approaches to water resource management and the need to establish a formal regional water partnership in Central Africa to support these initiatives has resulted in better understanding of the issues, particularly in Cameroon, Chad, Congo and DR Congo. A notable result of recent efforts is the formation of the country water partnership in Cameroon.

This was triggered by an offer from the Dutch government to target support to the Cameroon

● The government is a key stakeholder and senior government officials must be full participants in the planning process. Participation is not only of these senior officials. Mid-range bureaucrats are also important since they are likely to have a longer life-time in their positions than ministers and high officials. They must feel a sense of ownership, but without totally controlling the process. An open and participatory process minimizes this risk. ● The role of GWP must be clear: it is a facilitator. ● In most cases, the planning team needs to deepen its knowledge of project management, IWRM and participatory approaches. Similarly, the team needs support for capacity building of the stakeholders, and training support should be tailored to the local circumstances. ● Experience in plan preparation should be shared. The GWP network is ideally placed to do this. ● Funds to support the implementation of the plans and bring more countries on board, especially outside Africa, are needed. Different countries are at different stages, and the speed of the process must be matched to local circumstances. This can be frustratingly slow.

In such circumstances, there is usually a need for better coordination between stakeholder agencies, including donors.

for its IWRM planning process.The Cameroon Water Partnership was launched in June 2005 and together with government, has already begun to involve a range of stakeholders by organizing seminars in all provinces of the country as part of the process of education and awareness.

A key function of country partnerships is to create a broad, neutral (or common) platform for dialogue, where stakeholders – including government – can share information and ideas. “We have a very good working relationship with the Cameroon administration,” says Mathias Fru Fonteh, Chairperson of GWP Cameroon. “This is partly because Jean Pierre Bidjocka, the Director of Water Supply in the Ministry of

STAKEHOLDERS ARE KEY Stakeholder participation is at the core of the IWRM approach to resource management.Water is everyone’s business and the success of water sector reforms depends on knowing the views and interests of all concerned. “Opening up the process to a broader range of stakeholders means the outcome has a broader ownership base,” says Daniel Lopez, GWP Programme Officer. “This becomes an advantage, particularly when it comes to implementation of the plan.” Stakeholders often have a wealth of information that can benefit a project, so their involvement often leads to better informed decision-making. Lopez also believes that consensus at early stages of the project can reduce the likelihood of conflict.The involvement of stakeholders can build trust between the government and civil society, laying the foundation for long-term collaboration.

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Photo: Phoenix

Water Resources and Energy, is a founding member of the Cameroon Water Partnership. He has ensured the government is seen as an owner of the planning process and that the water partnership is there to support the state.” Following on from awareness-building activities, the development of Cameroon’s national plan will take a participatory approach, taking care to identify relevant stakeholders and involve them in finalizing the formal documents.

Fonteh and Bidjocka are also members of the GWP Central African Technical Advisory Committee.“We will be sharing the experiences gained in Cameroon with other Central African countries,” explains Fonteh.“This is already starting to happen in preparation of a road map survey for Central African Republic, Chad and Congo – countries that are supported by a French grant to GWP.”To share information among the countries in the region, GWP Central Africa is planning to launch a newsletter during 2006.

BRINGING STAKEHOLDERS ON BOARD In Zambia in the late 1980s, a review of the water sector highlighted poor stakeholder participation as a key factor hampering development.

Other obstacles included inadequate legal and

institutional frameworks, lack of data and human capacity and low levels of funding.The government introduced a more holistic approach to water resources in the National Water Policy of 1994.Then, in 2001, the Water Resources Action Programme developed a new legal and institutional framework and decision support systems for water resources development and management.

Formed in 2000, the Zambia Water Partnership has worked hard to increase stakeholder involvement.The countrywide Water Demand Management Study brought many new stakeholders to the fore, and the Kafue river basin Dialogue on Water, Food and Environment involved stakeholders at the grassroots. Nineteen traditional leaders participated in the Dialogue and some of the discussions were aired on national television. “We ensure all relevant voices are heard by taking the consultation to the people,” says Professor Imasiku Nyambe, Chairperson of the Zambia Water Partnership. “We work with eight community-based and non-governmental organizations and four media organizations that help ensure a broad-based consultation process.”

The first draft of Zambia’s national IWRM plan has been completed with multi-stakeholder

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Dialogues in the Kafue river basin reach people at the grassroots.

The national IWRM planning processes help identify priority water issues.

awareness-raising and information-gathering workshops throughout the country. “These have helped key stakeholders from technical, administrative and civil society backgrounds understand the challenges facing the water sector and appreciate the need for wider consultation,” says Housseini Maiga, Chair of the Mali Water Partnership.The IWRM planning activities are making good progress.The road map and work plan are already agreed and the Steering Committee and management team are in place.

Key stakeholders are also receiving training through capacity building workshops.

Photo: Meg Gawler/ARTEMIS Services

involvement.The next step is to take the draft to all nine provinces – a process being organized by the partnership. “Increasing stakeholder consultation has been one of the most important activities in the Zambia partnership,” says Nyambe. “It is something that extends beyond the conference room and it has made national media headlines.”

Mali shows a similar pattern. Assessment of the water sector in 2001 revealed the same kinds of problems, including little stakeholder participation and a lack of coordination between different water actors. Formed in 2003, the Mali Water Partnership is active in the national IWRM planning process, helping to organize

GOING, GOING, GONE? Lake Chad lies in the Sahel region of Central Africa, a vast savannah bordered by tropical rain forests to the south and the Sahara desert to the north.The lake is thought to be at least 20,000 years old and water levels have fluctuated regularly during that time. But during the past 40 years, local inhabitants have seen an unprecedented decline in water levels. In 1963, the lake covered about 25,000 km2.Today it is one-twentieth that size and, if current trends continue, it could disappear altogether.

Until recently, Lake Chad received most of its water from the rain that fell annually between June and August. But from the late 1960s on, there has been a series of droughts. As the rains failed, desertification set in. At the same time, local people became more and more dependent on the lake as a source of water.

The lake’s decline has had an enormous impact on the nine million farmers, fishermen and pastoralists living in the region. Crops have failed, livestock have died and fisheries have collapsed; while the demand for water from agriculture and urban dwellers continues to rise.

The countries bordering the Lake Chad basin (Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Niger and Nigeria) have been working together to coordinate regional development of water resources for several years.The Central Africa Water Partnership could be the real catalyst for change.“GWP Central Africa provides a platform from which member countries can plan joint water projects,” says Jean Michel Ossété, Chair of the Central Africa Technical Advisory Committee.

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Building capacity for bet Supporting countries improve their water resource management capacities is a major activity of the GWP. Building expertise and enhancing knowledge is essential for its success. To help, the international Capacity Building Network, Cap-Net, has worked closely with GWP and produced a range of material on planning processes, facilitation skills and conflict resolution.

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Photo: Cap-Net

Photo: Eritrea Water Partnership

t is now widely accepted that stakeholder involvement in planning and decision-making is essential for effective management of water resources. Formulating an integrated approach into a plan is therefore more complex than conventional government planning exercises. It involves a cyclical rather than linear process, marked by regular evaluation, assessment of progress and re-visiting stakeholders at every stage.The GWP and Cap-Net compiled the IWRM Plans Training Manual and Operational Guide to meet the need for assistance with this process. “It is more than just a training manual,” says Paul Taylor, Cap-Net Director, “it is also a guide to implementation and we expect users to keep coming back to it as they go through the planning steps.”

The guide outlines a three- or four-day training course for national teams embarking on the development of a water resources manage-

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ment strategy or plan. “It is short as they are busy people,” explains Taylor. It does not go into general concepts in great detail, since these are dealt with in other GWP publications, for example Catalyzing Change that was published in 2004. Rather, it focuses on improving participants’ ability to formulate these plans.The material can also be adapted to basin-level planning.

Trainers are encouraged to be creative in shaping the material to suit local circumstances.

The first part of the training manual briefly addresses the concept of integrated water resources management (IWRM) and the planning process, then describes the steps in developing a national plan.These steps include initiating the process, setting out the strategic vision and work plan, conducting a situation analysis, identifying strategy options and getting the plan approved. Links at the end of each chapter guide users to other information sources.

The second part of the manual, the operational guide, contains notes for course facilitators.These set out the learning objectives for each session of the course and suggest group exercises.There is also a sample course programme and a selection of ‘energizers’ for reviving interest and attention.

tter water management The CD that accompanies the manual contains additional background material and slide presentations.Versions in French, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish are available now.

The manual’s first real-life test was a training of trainers session in Delft, the Netherlands, in January 2005.The course was convened as part of the planning programmes for Ethiopia, Indonesia and El Salvador, supported by the Department of State of the United States government. “The participants made helpful comments on the manual and went away with greater knowledge,” says Taylor. “They are now better able to contribute to the process in their own countries.”

Emmanuel Donkor, lecturer in civil engineering at Ghana’s Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, helped develop the manual. “Participants at the training courses will be at different points in their national planning process and have different levels of experience in managing stakeholder participation,” he says.

“This fact should be taken into consideration when the training is being delivered.” He also suggests that the impact of the course is greatest when participants are given lots of time to discuss the issues raised in relation to their own countries. And that training on the IWRM planning process should be accompanied by management skills training covering topics such as team building, making presentations, leadership, negotiation and facilitation.

FOSTERING FACILITATION SKILLS Good facilitation of multi-stakeholder processes helps ensure that all interests are considered and reduces the potential for conflict later on, when plans are put into practice.With these benefits in mind, the GWP and Cap-Net produced a training manual on facilitation skills. “Groups have to be well managed and everyone has to participate if you are going to get the best out of them,” says Taylor. “Facilitation is therefore an essential skill for Cap-Net trainers and GWP members.”

How to facilitate a national integrated water resources planning process was the focus of a workshop held in Cotonou, Benin, in September 2005. Participants came from the five West African countries that have embarked on their

BUILDING CAPACITY FOR CONFLICT RESOLUTION Course materials for training in conflict resolution can be downloaded from the Cap-Net website.The network also arranges global and regional courses. Courses were staged in two countries in 2005.The course in Bangladesh had 23 participants from 15 countries.The group was well balanced, comprising engineers, social scientists, biologists and a lawyer.

One participant has already followed up on his training. He presented a session on conflict resolution at a training event in Sudan in September.The second course, in Bolivia, was organized in collaboration with the Latin American capacity building network, LAWETnet and the GWP South America Technical Advisory Committee. planning process: Benin, Cape Verde, Cameroon, Mali and Senegal.They learned how to plan, organize and facilitate workshops and training sessions.They also learned a range of tools and techniques that can be used when conducting workshops.The course evaluation showed the group was satisfied and aware of the need to change their approach, but they would probably apply only some of the tools they had learned. A follow-up discussion group on the Internet will support continued learning, experimentation and exchange of experiences.

In November 2005 the GWP and Cap-Net hosted another course on facilitation and presentation skills in Asmara, Eritrea.The five-day course was for members of regional and country water partnerships and capacity building professionals from countries supported by the GWP in their planning processes.The aim of the course was to build participants’ skills in managing multi-stakeholder platforms.The course illustrated a range of techniques for encouraging groups to share and develop their knowledge of integrated water resources development and management.The emphasis was on assessing the suitability of various methods and tools for different audiences and situations, particularly those that participants were likely to face on their return home.

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In Argentina, training focuses on conflict resolution and local water management.

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mote the best use of resources and expertise and avoid duplication of effort,” says Daniel Lopez, GWP Programme Officer. Identified regional partners will collaborate closely with each country water partnership and the country partnerships will identify suitable capacity building professionals to act as trainers at country level.

LEARNING FROM EACH OTHER Capacity building networks are an effective way to share knowledge and experience, helping to broaden the impact of the planning and the facilitation skills courses. Information exchange between eastern and southern Africa was given a boost when workshops for the Partnership for African Water Development (PAWD) programmes were held concurrently. Coordinated by the GWP, Cap-Net and the capacity building network in southern Africa (WaterNet), the workshops were held in Nairobi in March 2005.

The participants came from Eritrea, Kenya, Malawi, Swaziland and Zambia. Other key water stakeholders, including staff from capacity building institutions, also attended.The objectives were to reach consensus on capacity building priorities in the projects and to coordinate capacity building in southern and eastern Africa.

The workshop provided an ideal opportunity for participants to share their experiences in the national planning processes.They discussed the roles and composition of the programme team, how to start the planning process, the facilitation required and the idea of a regional capacity building programme.

The GWP Southern Africa regional partnership has followed up on the course by developing a capacity building plan outlining what support is needed, where to get it, when and where to deliver it and how to monitor the results.The emphasis lies on building local capacity at country level, building a cadre of professionals who will carry on with the training and knowledge transfer as needs arise.“Having a formal plan will pro-

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REGIONAL NEEDS IN SOUTHEAST ASIA The regional capacity building network for Southeast Asia (SEACapNet) was formed in 2002 with eight country members.While the members have been active in promoting national workshops, seminars and short courses, there have been few regional activities. Consequently, one of the aims of a workshop held in Bali, Indonesia, in August 2005 was to identify regional capacity building needs and to create a mechanism for addressing them.

“The workshop raised awareness of the urgent need for capacity building on integrated water resources management in the region,” says Low Kwai Sim, GWP regional spokeswoman. “It brought many experts together and they proposed ideas to enhance ongoing activities and fill in gaps. All in all, it was a useful stepping stone to greater activity in Southeast Asia.”

SEACapNet members have written up the outputs of the workshop as a working paper, which will guide future capacity building efforts in the region.They have also established an Internet discussion group to encourage knowledge sharing.Three training sessions are already planned for 2006 (in Myanmar, the Philippines and Vietnam) and the network will compile a list of resource persons to help with these and other capacity building initiatives.

ADVANCING KNOWLEDGE IN LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN Brazil is the latest partner to join Cap-Net. CapNet-Brasil will support capacity building in Brazil and other Portuguese speaking countries – Angola, Cape Verde, East Timor and Mozambique.The first training of trainers course was held in São Paulo in the last week of October. A high level facilitators’ team including university professors, water managers, government officials and project managers delivered the sessions.

CapNet-Brasil has already established excellent working relations with national projects and the government. For example, the network is discussing how it can help build capacity within the Guarani Aquifer Project, which is funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF).

Similarly, network members plan to work with

Photo: Phoenix

the Ministry for Cities in the field of urban water supply and with the national water agency.

The capacity building network in Argentina (ArgCapNet) is becoming more locally focused.

Instead of organizing broad training of trainers’ courses on the principles of IWRM, it will work more specifically to address the priority needs of the different provinces of Argentina through tailor-made capacity building programmes.The network is preparing a ‘risk management’ programme and has agreed to deliver this to local branches of the national water council (Consejo Hídrico Federal). At the regional and international level, ArgCapNet is collaborating with LA-WETnet.

The members are organizing regional courses on conflict resolution and local water management.

The Central American network for capacity building (Red Centroamericana de Instituciones de Ingeniería, or REDICA) hosted a training of trainers course in gender and water management in the Dominican Republic in November.The course was intended as a first step in forming a Caribbean network for those that speak Spanish.

Facilitated by REDICA members from Costa Rica and El Salvador, the course brought together participants from the Dominican Republic and Cuba.The participants have since started an Internet discussion group to continue their dialogue. “By sharing our Central American experiences with the Caribbean, we hope to accelerate the IWRM capacity building process in Spanishspeaking islands,” says Liliana Arrieta, the REDICA coordinator. “But activities don’t necessarily replicate.We have to keep in mind the special interests of small island developing states.”

Similar initiatives are being considered for the

Anglophone Caribbean, with the University of the West Indies taking the lead.

During the last day of the workshop, there was a special session for representatives from the local media (newspapers, magazines and television).The journalists were introduced to the main concepts of IWRM and the need to address gender issues in projects related to water.Twelve people attended, which was less than expected but they showed a good level of interest and one participant has already published a relevant article.

COORDINATING CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT IN THE FUTURE Cap-Net and the GWP have been working hard in raising awareness of the need to build local capacity for successful implementation of integrated approaches to managing water resources.

The result has been a proliferation of capacity building efforts in many countries, leading to a danger of duplication of effort.This highlights the need to bring some coordination to these initiatives. Cap-Net is ideally placed to fulfil this role since it is the only programme with a global strategy.

“With every visit we pay to regions and their networks, we learn more about activities that have been inspired by the Cap-Net programme,” says Kees Leendertse, Cap-Net Human Resources Development Specialist. “It is difficult for our small secretariat to keep track of all the follow-up activities being conducted by the networks.We have to ask ourselves what is the best way to record these events? That’s why in the next phase we intend to re-examine monitoring and impact measurement of the network.”

CAPACITY BUILDING NEEDS Participants at the Bali workshop identified three types of people who need to develop greater knowledge of integrated approaches to water resources management: 1. High-level decision makers, who are very busy people and therefore need “instant” information delivered through very short courses, forums, seminars and briefings.Topics of interest include water and irrigation management, environmental management and sanitation, water governance, water financing and legal and institutional development.

2. Water managers, implementers and technical personnel who are often in charge of formulating the policy and programmes put forward for political endorsement. Many in this group have a water-related degree but still require in-depth knowledge on various aspects of IWRM.Training modules of three to seven days are most appropriate for keeping this group informed and these should build on local knowledge and tools.

3. Civil society, NGOs and water users.This group is varied and its informal capacity building needs can be met largely through demonstrations of workable solutions rather than formal training and education.The main aim is to create awareness and advocacy for integrated approaches for more sustainable water resources management.

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Water is priceless Without water, there would be no life. Yet, in many parts of the world, neither the value or the true cost of water services are appreciated. Too many governments are unable to, or do not, give priority to financing the collection, storage and distribution of water, as well as wastewater treatment. Meeting the Millennium Development Goal of reducing by half the proportion of people without access to safe drinking water and sanitation by 2015 will require increased investment in the world’s water infrastructure. Where will the money come from? he 2nd World Water Forum in 2000 issued a clarion call for a significant increase in investment in water services.The World Water Commission forecast that current levels of spending would need to double to meet all water and sanitation needs for the growing world population over the following 25 years. In response, the World Water Council and the GWP set up the World Panel on Financing Water Infrastructure to consider options for meeting the water sector’s future needs.The Panel, chaired by Michel Camdessus, former Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, presented its report, Financing Water for All, at the 3rd World Water Forum in Kyoto in March 2003.

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KEEPING THE SPOTLIGHT ON FINANCE Since the Kyoto meeting, the GWP and World Water Council have continued to provide a platform for dialogue, encouraging discussion of the Panel’s findings among financiers, water professionals, decision-makers and water users at regional and country level.“Water professionals tend to have technical backgrounds and harbour a fear of finance,” said GWP’s Alan Hall at a water and finance meeting in Guatemala.“This needs to be overcome if investment is to be encouraged from a much wider range of sources.” Financiers also tend to have a fear of water, in part because supply and consumption issues are so often immersed in controversy. Indeed, certain types of financial flows for water declined during the 1990s despite

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the growing need. One of the principal aims of the GWP dialogues is to overcome these fears.

Water is a politically charged issue and people are often more willing to pay for an improved service than politicians are to charge them. At the same time, lending institutions are wary of financing water infrastructure in developing countries because of a history of poor performance.The Panel’s report highlighted many governance weaknesses that need to be addressed to attract more investment and ensure its wise use.

Several GWP regions are promoting better understanding of integrated approaches for more sustainable water management among financiers and increasing awareness of financial issues – particularly those related to agricultural water use – among water professionals and policy makers.

NATIONAL DIALOGUES A series of National Dialogues on Water Financing took place in Southeast Asia in 2005.These identified the issues and challenges associated with financing water infrastructure and served as a platform for multi-stakeholder discussion.Their findings will feed into the forthcoming GWP Southeast Asia regional workshop on Water Financing and Economic Pricing to be held in Manila in May 2006.

Facing the finance challenge in the Philippines In the Philippines, a national dialogue on IWRM and water financing was held in March 2005. A wide range of participants attended, including representatives of national government agencies, local government units, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), academia, the private sector, district water offices, external support agencies and

government-owned and controlled corporations.

In his opening address, Daniel Fandiño, Chairman of the Philippine Water Partnership, summarized the finance challenges facing his country and many other developing nations.“Water tariff setting is often influenced by political considerations rather than driven by the need for cost recovery for sustainable water supply and sanitation services,” he said.“Most water supply agencies are finding it difficult to raise funds for system development and improvement.” He added that loans from development banks or agencies are channelled mostly to large infrastructure projects, with low priority given to day-to-day running of the water sector. In addition, poor services due to lack of investment in the past hamper efforts to set tariffs at a level that is acceptable to consumers and that allows sustainable cost recovery and viable service provision.

Water law spawns new funding mechanisms in Indonesia Indonesia also suffers from water scarcity, pollution, inadequate urban piped water and water-

shed degradation. Legal and regulatory frameworks are weak, there is little coordination between government agencies and no formal mechanisms exist for stakeholder consultation.

The national dialogue on water financing, held in Jakarta in June 2005, attracted participants from central and local government, water resources management authorities, water utilities, consumer groups, banks, the private sector, NGOs, academia, professional organizations, the media and international donors.The financing of Indonesia’s 2005 Water Law, a framework for water sector reform, was a major topic of discussion.The law promotes river basin management, encourages stakeholder participation and formalizes water-charging mechanisms.The participants discussed ways to tackle the finance problem, including tapping local capital markets, obtaining commercial loans and introducing more sustainable cost recovery.They also discussed alternative funding mechanisms such as carbon offsets and “debt-for-nature” swaps, where the donor pays off foreign debt if the country agrees to conservation targets.

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Many water supply agencies find it difficult to raise funds to improve water infrastucture.

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Dialogues held in Vietnam on financing were lively and constructive.

Financiers, policy makers and consumers come together in Malaysia In 2004, the Malaysian Government undertook an extensive overhaul of its departments that are responsible for water.The new structure promotes better water sector integration and decentralizes decision-making. Considerable changes in financing mechanisms are also likely.The Malaysian national dialogue on water financing, held in February 2005, provided a platform for multi-stakeholder consultation in preparation for the changes. About 80 delegates attended and discussed financing issues from differing perspectives: public sector, private sector, and non-governmental and consumer organizations.

James Winpenny, secretary to the World Panel, suggests that Malaysia’s planned separation of asset ownership (which would remain public) and operation of services (contracted to private companies or public authorities) could have considerable advantages.These include better investment potential and cost recovery. Keeping assets in public hands avoids much of the controversy attached to privatisation. And separating operations from ownership allows the govern-

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ment to draw up transparent and accountable performance contracts.

Accelerating the pace of change in Vietnam Reform of the water sector in Vietnam is at an early stage, as the country moves away from the former system of centralized control and government subsidy.The dialogue in Hanoi in February 2005 was the first time members of different water sector agencies had met to discuss water financing.The participants joined in identifying national financing problems and proposing solutions.This led to a lively, sometimes critical, but generally constructive debate.While the stakeholders generally support integrated approaches for more sustainable water management, the large number of agencies involved at present results in conflict and frustration.The presence of foreign donors has been a mixed blessing; although support for water management and development is valued, the conditions imposed are often too rigid.

Nobody questioned the principle of water as an economic good, nor the need for cost recovery from users. But at present these principles are

applied in a half-hearted and inconsistent manner and the relevant water law does not mention financing. Cost recovery is particularly weak in irrigation, which is organized in regional, district and local tiers, each relying on water fees for their main income.The workshop called for a better national policy on irrigation fees and a tighter regime for revenue collection.

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FINANCING WATER FOR AGRICULTURE Investing in water resources for agriculture is vital if developing countries are to reduce rural

poverty and attain food security.The GWP and a number of partner organizations staged two meetings to discuss this challenge in October 2005: one in Hyderabad, India and the other in Pretoria, South Africa.

Although water infrastructure in Africa is less developed than in Asia, some interesting parallels can be drawn. One of these is the difficulty of recovering costs from small-scale farmers in the face of poverty, inadequate services, and shortages of cash and credit. Large-scale water infrastructure schemes such as dams are generally

SMALL-SCALE, SELF-FUNDING WATER SCHEMES IN AFRICA The following examples of successful local water schemes were presented at the GWP Financing Water for Agriculture meeting held in South Africa. One supplies irrigation pumps and the other exploits rainwater harvesting technology.

Kickstart is a not-for-profit firm which, although the recipient of seed capital from donor organizations, has a commercial outlook. It provides small, manually operated irrigation pumps through the market place rather than via subsidized programmes. Farmers are treated as profitmotivated customers and investors.The company has so far sold 50,000 pumps in eastern Africa at a cost to the farmer of US$110, an amount that can be covered by first-year net returns.The overhead costs of technical development and market promotion currently need grant support. But as sales volumes rise, the initiative should become fully self-funding.

The Water for Food Movement in South Africa is helping to reduce poverty and empower poor rural women by promoting the use of homestead backyards for growing food and high-value cash crops. Backyard cultivation has been declining due to a shortage of water so the project is encouraging small-scale water storage and irrigation schemes using rainwater and recycled household wastewater. At present, the programme receives a modest subsidy from the Department of Water, Agriculture and Forestry (to buy construction materials), but the women create the rainwater catchment systems and tanks themselves.

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funded by governments. But water charges would provide money for routine operation and maintenance if revenues could be retained in the sector.They would also encourage water conservation. Most stakeholders believed that it would be easier to increase water charges if there were proper service contracts between providers and customers. Another idea was to charge largescale farmers more than small-scale ones and to sell surplus agricultural water and wastewater run-off to other sectors.

The participants at the Hyderabad meeting were from South and Southeast Asia. “Because participants came from a wide variety of backgrounds, it was not easy to get them to focus on a common set of issues. Not surprisingly, many were unfamiliar with the financial aspects of water, and some needed convincing that this was a critical issue for them,” reports Winpenny.The meeting revealed prevailing attitudes and gave rise to a number of useful conclusions.

In many parts of South and Southeast Asia, stakeholder involvement in decision making and water charging is organized through water user associations. But few of them have any real power or financial autonomy. For example, an irrigation service fee introduced in Indonesia in 1987 failed because the fund was not earmarked for spending in the irrigation districts, and was therefore rightly seen as a tax.Transparency and accountability need to be improved in such situations.

In Pretoria, as in Hyderabad, the meeting succeeded in conveying a set of approaches, attitudes and concerns specific to the region.These should be the starting point for developing specific proposals in the future. Encouraging accounts of local and national initiatives were also presented (see box).

Water storage capacity in Africa is tiny compared with that found in the rest of the world.

There is therefore considerable need to build the continent’s water infrastructure. For example, Ethiopia currently has water storage capacity of 43 cubic metres per person, while the USA has 6,150.Water infrastructure, both large- and small-scale, is necessary for economic growth; but in building such infrastructure, environmental impacts and potential multiple uses must be considered alongside technical, economic and social aspects. It is also important to ensure large-scale structures actually benefit the local people, particularly the poor. From a financing viewpoint, recognizing the many facets of water

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opens up the possibility of cross funding from other sub-sectors, such as hydropower.

MAINTAINING MOMENTUM The GWP and the World Water Council are keeping up the pressure for financial reform in the water sector by following up on the World Panel’s report. In 2005, they created a “Task Force on Financing Water for All” under the chairmanship of Angel Gurria, former Minister of Finance of Mexico and recently appointed as head of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

The key aim of the Gurria Task Force is to ensure that financing issues receive the continuous attention they deserve. The members willl focus on three main components: ● progress on the original World Panel recommendations, ● financing water at municipal and local level, ● financing water for agriculture.

The official launch of the Task Force took place during its inaugural meeting in Marseilles in November 2005, with discussion of the scope of work and approaches to be taken.The Task Force will present its findings for debate during the 4th World Water Forum in Mexico in March 2006.Topics likely to be included in the initial discussions include reforms to water governance, institutional progress, sub-sovereign financing, multilateral financing, international commercial lending, local capital markets, progress in developing protocols among stakeholders, and examples of tariff reform or improved financial performance of utilities.

One conclusion of the original Panel was that existing sources of finance for the water sector must be expanded if the Millennium Development Goals relating to water are to be achieved.

Taking a broad-based and holistic approach to water financing – as advocated by the GWP – will help to identify and exploit new, non-traditional sources of finance. At the same time, the GWP network dialogues and workshops will help water stakeholders to share their knowledge of different financing options and governance requirements.The end result should be a water sector that is more attractive to financial investment from many different sources.

For more information, contact the GWP Secretariat or your nearest regional office: Australia awp@awa.asn.au Caribbean jleeyoung@niherst.gov.tt Central Africa jmossete@yahoo.fr Central America gwpca@gwpcentroamerica.org Central and Eastern Europe gwpcee@shmu.sk Central Asia and the Caucasus i.babaev@cgiar.org China duzhk@iwhr.com Eastern Africa gwpena@nilesec.org Mediterranean secretariat@gwpmed.org South America gabriela.grau@gwpforum.org South Asia n.abeywickrama@cgiar.org Southeast Asia secretariat@gwpsea.org Southern Africa secretariat@gwpsa.org.zw West Africa watac@fasonet.bf

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Global Water Partnership (GWP) Secretariat E-mail: gwp@gwpforum.org Website: www.gwpforum.org